Albanese signed letter slamming invasion, calling for reparations and sovereignty

Revelations a young activist PM signed an open letter calling for land rights, reparations and sovereignty to Aboriginal people has some questioning his honesty. TAKE OUR POLL

Anthony Albanese’s political interest in Indigenous Australia dates back at least as far as 1986, with revelations that as a young activist he signed an open letter calling for reparations, land rights, and sovereignty to be granted to Aboriginal people in recognition of the effects of “invasion”.

The open letter, published in the April 18, 1986 edition of the now defunct weekly newspaper The National Times, read in part “we believe that the granting of land rights and appropriate compensation is of fundamental importance as we approach the bicentennial of the invasion of Aboriginal land”.

It continued, referring to the “illegal … invasion of Aboriginal land”, and calling for “recognition of (Aboriginal) sovereignty, land rights, and compensation for lands lost and for social and cultural disruption”.

The letter was organised by a “broad left conference” of trade unions and progressive political parties and movements, with readers told to contact Pat Dodson or Marcia Langton for more information.

Mr Albanese would have been about 23 years old at the time.

A young Anthony Albanese (L), leads students in a protest atop the University of Sydney clock tower in an undated copy photo.

In 2021 Ms Langton was one of the authors, with Tom Calma, of a report that is often cited as a model for the Voice to Parliament.

News of the letter came as the Coalition continued to press the Albanese government about whether a successful referendum on the Voice to Parliament would lead to the implementation of the entire Uluru Statement, which calls for voice, treaty, and truth-telling or “makaratta”.

A young Anthony Albanese signed an open letter circulated to Labor's Broad Left Faction conference in 1986.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton said: “The Prime Minister has proudly declared – on no less than 34 occasions – that he wants to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart, in full. And, in his own words, this means ‘Voice, Truth, Treaty’.

“Yet last month and ever since, he has been running a million miles away from the Treaty commitment, saying it has nothing to do with the Voice.

“And now we’ve got his support for the 1986 declaration on ‘compensation’. Well, which is it, PM?

“All of this calls into question the Prime Minister’s integrity and truthfulness. His increasingly tricky answers and hectoring on the Voice shows he’s all about dividing Australia, not uniting us.”

Anthony Albanese at the 1986 NSW Young Labor conference at Bondi Pavilion, the same year he signed the letter.

The revelations came as questions about the Voice to Parliament dominated another question time.

Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney was repeatedly pressed to answer questions about the Voice and whether the government would support a Makaratta Commission but failed to give a concrete answer.

Mr Albanese has repeatedly denied that the Voice to Parliament would be anything more than a representative body to help governments make better decisions about matters directly affecting Aboriginal Australians.

The Prime Minister’s office has been contacted for comment.

Originally published as Albanese signed letter slamming invasion, calling for reparations and sovereignty